Our unemployment rate is now at 9.7%, which is the highest since 1983. Yet the rate of layoffs have slowed. Usually this would mean that while employers are not laying off workers as quickly as in previous months, they’re also not hiring. But according to the article, “The rise in unemployment, after dipping to 9.4% in July, came as more Americans returned to the work force. Teenage unemployment hit 25.5%, the highest since the government began keeping records in 1948.” Hmm. So who qualifies as being “unemployed”? According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics website, it’s rather complicated. Apparently, a 16 year old who flipped burgers at McDonald’s during the summer and quit her summer job last month because of school, would be considered “unemployed”. I’m curious what fraction of the unemployed are cases similar to this, in which unemployment is voluntary. In other words, perhaps some month’s unemployment rate would be of greater concern than another month’s. For example, we may be more concerned about the unemployment rate around or during the Thanksgiving and Christmas shopping season than we’d be for August, since summer is typically slower for sales in many industries, and students are going back to school. What do you think?

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